A large market exists for hinges and latches. Such a market includes a demand for hinges and latches that will attach to doors or panels and which will allow rapid detachment or replacment of doors, panels, modules and printed circuit boards as well as quick access to closed-off areas.
Many of the existing hinges and latches are not capable of being made entirely from non-metallic materials. Thus, they may have conductive metal parts which risk contacting electrical wiring or which corrode or which weigh too much for some applications. Many existing hinges and latches also require an awkward number of assembly steps. Further, the relatively large number of components of some hinges and latches create problems of reliability, inventory records, and storage space.